The Best Medicine...

Comedy is defiance. It's a snort of contempt in the face of fear and anxiety. And it's the laughter that allows hope to creep back on the inhale. Will Durst


I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose. Woody Allen

I believe that laughter is a language of God and that we can all live happily ever laughter. Yakov Smirnoff

Laughter is an instant vacation.
Milton Berle

Laughter is inner jogging.
Norman Cousins

You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants. Stephen King

         

         It happened again last night …and again this morning.  I couldn’t catch my breath.  My stomach muscles tightened and hurt terribly.  I couldn’t speak.  Tears streamed down my face and, finally, I was left exhausted.  You might ask…what in the world was wrong with me.    I was hit by an intense, incredible, and uncontrollable wave of laughter.  A fit of laughter over the dumbest things…if you ask my family.  You see, anything can set me off…pictures on the internet, characters in books (Grandma Mazur gets me every time), comic strips (especially Gary Larson), and test answers from my students. 

          Most of the time, these outbursts are more private occurrences – at home, surrounded by eye-rolling family members.  However, I have been caught off guard in public before.  In fact, that’s how I got my first Far Side book – I was limp and laughing hysterically on the floor of a bookstore in Iowa City when my future mother-in-law grabbed the book out of my hands, paid for it and asked me to wait outside for everyone else. 
          When I’m in a dry spell, I laugh at my own corny jokes…a lot!  This always leads to more eye-rolling and sighing!

          I love these moments.  It is a total surrender of worry, stress, pain, grief, anxiety, and all other daily negatives.  I am left filled with hope, happiness, and a wonderful lightness in my soul.   

          So, have a laugh on me, but these may not do anything for you.   Feel free to leave comments, pictures and links to what makes you giggle. 

Just as long as you’re laughing.  J